September 18th, 2008 The Carbon Offset Process: Part 1
Posted by
Bruce in
Ecoathlete 9.18.08 A few months ago, when Athletes for a Fit Planet offered to offset the carbon emissions from my travel, I was absolutely overjoyed. I am painfully aware of the negative impact that my frequent, long flights have on the environment and had wanted to do something about it.
The fact that my air travel pumps tons of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere remains; carbon offsets don’t atone for my global warming sins, but rather support projects designed to reduce emissions. In an athletic context, I see it like skipping a workout, but eating a really healthy dinner; good, but not making up for my misdeeds. Once I had determined that Athletes for a Fit Planet would offset my emissions, however, the main question for me was how to ensure that my offsets were a meaningful gesture and not an environmental tithe, something that makes me feel better about my travels but accomplishes little or nothing?
Prior to starting my research, I knew that the carbon offset world was an unregulated Wild West filled with promise, but with some questionable delivery on the part of the suppliers. Even so, I was unprepared for the variability in the quality of carbon offset. To go return to my former analogy, carbon offsets present a variety of choices much like my healthy dinner could: organic or conventionally grown produce, free-range or factory-farmed, local or imported products, and vegan or meat-based options. While all are better for me and for the environment than a fast-food meal, I always want to know that I am getting the absolute best bang for my buck. As a general rule of thumb, if it seems too good to be true, it almost always is.
That being said, the best offset projects are not necessarily the most expensive ones. With some good research, however, I was able to tease apart the higher quality projects and providers from the lower quality ones.
The first direction that I wanted to head was to forestation, or sequestration, projects and I admit that my decision was purely emotional and bio-centric. If a healthier ecosystem is a by-product, wouldn’t that make it even better? The trouble is that reforestation tends to be a low quality project in terms of carbon offsets. Much to my dismay, offsets are reversed when trees die in the case of fire or pest infestation.
Furthermore, little is known about how forests store carbon in the long run, especially in the face of predicted climate change. While the protection of forests is certainly important, there are better ways to invest one’s offset funds.
In figuring out the best offset projects, I learned that it is important to keep “additionality” in mind, as well as quality. Additionality addresses this question: Would the project happen without the funding from the sale of carbon offsets? If so, your emissions will not be offset by such a project! Furthermore, there needs to be a clear quantification of the benefit, permanence to the project, clear ownership (easier with direct, onsite reductions), future monitoring and verification and registration of the project.
I’ve found that two carbon offset projects that fulfill these requirements are the building of wind turbines, helping us transition away from fossil fuels, and the capturing of methane, keeping this greenhouse gas from reaching the atmosphere.
While my research has pointed me in the right direction as to the type of carbon offset project that I would support, I now have to determine the ideal company. I will keep you posted on my progress!
Send Sarah your questions and comments to info@afitplanet.com
